Ronaldo smiles as England bawl him out over Rooney

Steven Gerrard described him as "bang out of order", Frank Lampard questioned his understanding of sportsmanship and Alan Shearer suggested Wayne Rooney would "stick one on him", but Cristiano Ronaldo was in no mood for making apologies last night. The Manchester United winger seemed untroubled by the complaints about his underhand tactics in Saturday's quarter-final, smiling broadly and shrugging his shoulders before reiterating that he does not expect to be playing in England next season.

Ronaldo broke off from Portugal's preparations for their semi-final against France to answer the allegations that he had deliberately sought to get Rooney, his United colleague, sent off. "People are saying that the referee showed a red card because I asked him to, but that is not true," he said. "It was not my fault and I don't care who says it was. I didn't get him sent off. It's simply not true. It is just the English press stirring things up."

His denial drew a withering response from several England players, most notably those from Liverpool and Chelsea. "I saw what Ronaldo did," said Gerrard. "I saw him going over to the referee and giving him the card and I think he was bang out of order. If he were one of my team-mates I would be absolutely disgusted with him.

"After Wayne was sent off he [Ronaldo] winked at his bench and his team-mates and that just about sums him up as a person. If I were playing against a team-mate from Liverpool and they were involved in a situation like that I would never try to get them sent off."

"He's supposed to be a team-mate of Wayne's at Manchester United and he does something like that," Lampard said disbelievingly. "It's not nice, is it? A lot has been made of trying to promote fair play in this tournament and that was certainly not fair play. Unfortunately that's the way it is with some players. We were told that anyone who tried to get someone else a yellow or red card would get a yellow but it just hasn't happened."

On a day of recriminations and finger-pointing John Terry extended the criticisms to the entire Portuguese team, including his Chelsea team-mate Ricardo Carvalho. "It's really disappointing seeing that - players playing in the Premiership too. Team-mates as well. It's disappointing to see them coming over doing that."

Terry reflected that it would be "interesting" the next time United and Chelsea faced each other, but Ronaldo already seems to have made up his mind that his time in England is all but done. The 21-year-old expressed a strong desire last week to join Real Madrid, much to the irritation of Sir Alex Ferguson, and when asked whether a deal had been completed behind the scenes he smiled again and, choosing his words carefully, answered: "I like Real Madrid. We'll see after the World Cup."

He was asked why he was smiling and it was put to him that his body language suggested he knew more than he was letting on. "We have to sign it first, then I will talk to you after the World Cup," he replied. "As I say, I like Real Madrid. Do I want to leave Manchester? I don't know. Maybe."

His confidence about becoming a Madrid player may partly explain why he was not worried about having to explain himself to Rooney and the possible reaction were he to remain in the Premiership next season.

"I spoke after the game to Rio [Ferdinand] and Gary [Neville] and they did not have a problem with me," he said. "Rio said: 'Congratulations.' I didn't get the chance to speak to Wayne but I will telephone him. I don't feel sorry for him, that's certain. Why would I feel sorry for him? This is a time for me to be celebrating Portugal's achievements, not worrying about things that are not even true."